Herman Holst was once a developer for Guerrilla Games and now fills the role of PlayStation’s head of Worldwide Studios. You may have heard of him lending a hand to help Hideo Kojima on Death Stranding while at Guerrilla Games, but now you’ll likely hear more of him given the promotion that will see him assisting in pumping out diverse character-driven games in the years to come.
For those of you thinking that Sony or PlayStation’s upcoming first-party games for PS4 and PS5 will tone down on social justice narratives, you’d be wrong. According to Hulst, in a new interview with gamesindustry.biz, we learn that more “diversity” is on its way pumping 2020 and beyond with the typical agitprop as seen in recent past years.
Moreover, when Hulst elaborated on Guerrilla Games shifting from Killzone to Horizon Zero Dawn, we learn that the studio not only took on a diverse mindset but diversity hires were coming in like a house with no doors:
“The team has become a lot more diverse since the launch of Horizon Zero Dawn. More than Killzone, Horizon seems to attract devs from all sorts of backgrounds. And I think that the success of Horizon has given the team a lot of confidence.”
This has led Hulst to believe that this is the golden age of gaming since this era is covering MMOs and indie titles that explore different human conditions. However, Hulst also believes Sony can reach different voices around the world in this “golden age”:
“This may very well be the golden age of gaming. There has never been this diversity of experiences — from massive AAA online games that explore future worlds, to deeply personal Indie projects that explore the human condition. As PlayStation, we need to provide a platform that includes all those different voices, all those different experiences.”
Furthermore, Hulst says Sony is committed to making more “story-rich” games that focus on characters. And as a brand, he says the company is eager to branch out and start “including” and “curating” a new generation of developers for a “new generation of gamers.” This diverse move is explained below:
“We are very committed to the types of games we’ve been making at Worldwide Studios for the last decade: big, spectacular experiences with story and characters at the core. We will keep making these games, because we love to make them. And as a brand we are eager to branch out and start including and curating a new generation of developers, that create new and different experiences for a new generation of gamers.”
So there you have it, more PS4 and PS5 first-party games will feature more diverse characters and scenarios moving forward.